Family finances, parenting, and raising money-smart kids.

2017 – A Year of Intentional Living

As my husband and I sat down to brainstorm and prioritize our goals for 2017, a theme came up over and over – to live intentionally.

The definition of intentional is simple – “done on purpose; deliberate.”

In all areas of our life, we aim to be thoughtful and deliberate, rather than falling back on old habits. To slow down a bit. To think in the big picture. To be flexible, but focused.

Here is how we aim to live intentionally this year, and how it is shaping our goals for the year ahead.

Finances

We aim to be intentional about our finances – to stay within our budget, to spend money on what makes us happy (or helps us reach our financial goals), and to make strategic decisions on additional income opportunities.

Sure, we aim to be frugal, but we also aim to be thoughtful about how we spend money, and to know that collecting memories is more important to our family than collecting things.

Relationships

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ~ Jim Rohn

The community we build around us really does matter. And yet, with busy schedules, it is easy to be on auto-pilot with friends and family.

This year, we aim to be intentional with each other, with our kids, and with our friends and family.

This means being more proactive. Putting ourselves out there more. Working to build a healthy village for ourselves and for our kids.

It means (actually) going on date nights, being present with our kids, turning off electronics, meeting new friends, and making the effort to connect with those important to us.

Time

Where will we spend our free (and working) time this year? As a family with two young boys, “free-time” is sacred.

Are we spending time on activities we really love, or that help us achieve our goals? Are we prioritizing time for self-care?

This includes time spent together. Our family loves to travel, and yet we are also very spontaneous. Sometimes, we don’t take the time to plan ahead and we regret it. This year, we aim to be intentional about travel – planning and scheduling trips in advance, while also not over-booking our calendar so we can have spontaneity.

2017, bring it on!

Last year (2016), our family made significant strides in reorganizing our finances (and our life) to get on track to financial independence and early retirement.